Without You
by Prime627
Summary: Dark Energon fed Megatron strength and improved his skills, but it had a cost, and he is willing to pay the price for his foolish recklessness: his life. The only problem is, when he dies, he is like a grenade, and he wounds everyone in his wake. (For King and Country's song "Without You")


_What do you do when you don't get better_

 _Strong arms get too, get too weak to hold her_

 _Oh God, give me just enough strength to make it through_

Megatron wheezed, sitting up to hack into his servos. Dark Energon spattered on his palms and he whined at the amount there. He laid back down, wiping at his lips with a rag and he cleaned his servos, reaching weakly for the lightly glowing Low Grade that Starscream had left him.

The Dark Energon was taking it's toll. It had powered the once-mighty warlord for years without a price before Megatron realized the damage it had done: his spark was dying.

 _Sleepless, this madness is walking me out to the ledge_

 _And stands there beside me, shivering out on the edge_

 _And oh God all I, all I ask is a little relief, just a moment of peace_

He had been that way for years, shivering and shuddering while his bonded could only sit by and suffer with him. His pain and fear transferred over the bond...Primus knows why Starscream decided _now_ was the time to get bonded.

 **I want to feel your pain** , he had said. **I don't want you to be alone in this**. He had touched his face, cradled his helm. **I love you**.

How could he love him? He had destroyed him without mercy, and yet there he was, standing in the doorway, just watching. His optics were a dim yellow. He had yellow optics before the war...

Megatron liked them.

 _I don't want to live without you_

 _I'm not ready to live without you_

 _So let's dance a little, laugh a little, hope a little more_

 _'Cause I don't want to leave without you, without you_

Megatron fought gravity and settled on his pedes, grunting and panting while he did. His spark was hammering in its chamber; he was putting too much strain on it.

Starscream ran to him, trying to push him back down. His wings fluttered in fear until Megatron pinched the tip, laced his claws with his mate's, and he led him into a shaky dance they had learned before their bonding ceremony.

Optimus had been there, and the Prime blessed them. He was thrilled that his brother had gone and gotten bonded. He, too, was mated with a Seeker femme, one Megatron didn't know he'd ever see again: Slipstream.

 _This thorn in my side, though it cuts and stings me_

 _Has opened these eyes, I've never seen so clearly_

 _And oh God, I thank You, 'cause You bring me to my knees_

 _Back on my knees_

Megatron crumpled to the ground, panting and hugging Starscream's hips for balance. He knelt there for a long time, breathing into Starscream's belly and groaning softly when pain laced up his sides and down to his pedes. The origin was his spark, and Starscream could feel it too.

The Seeker opened his chamber. "Your spark is almost completely black."

Black meant death.

"There are some purple spots. More than last time."

Purple was bad, but still encouraging.

"Hardly any blue."

Blue meant he would survive. Optimus had done some crazy magic last week that livened the warlord up and made his spark glow bright blue for days.

And then the Dark Energon returned, having only been hiding...

 _I heard a voice from the other side singing_

 _Hold fast, love lasts_

 _As winter turns into summertime singing_

 _Hold fast, love lasts_

 _I heard a voice from the other side singing_

 _Hold fast, love lasts_

 _As winter turns into summertime singing_

 _Hold fast_

Megatron grabbed his mate's face, and Starscream's claws gripped his servos, his optics wide and scared. He pulled him into several kisses. "I am well," he lied. Starscream could see it in his opics that he was lying, but Megatron could still feel relief come over the bond.

"Shall we lay you down to rest? I can call Optimus and-"

Megatron kissed him again, cutting him off. "I want to dance..."

Starscream smiled gently, and he helped him to his pedes. He taught him a Seeker dance, one that involved a lot of wing-fluttering and pede-kicking, but Megatron got the hang of it, even with the lack of his wings.

Starscream was laughing, purring and exhausted, but Megatron could sense death creeping closer, wrapping his greedy claws around his spark and snipping each wire. He wanted Starscream to have a good memory before he went, before he went cold...

 _So let's dance a little, laugh a little, and hope a little more_

 _Yes, let's dance a little, laugh a little, and hope a little more_

 _'Cause I don't want to leave without you_

 _No, I don't wanna live without you, without you_

Starscream woke in the morning, and the sun was shining. Outside their base in Vos, there were mechs and femmes laughing and purring. Optimus was giving orders, his mate screaming them when she felt no one was paying attention. The sun warmed Starscream's back and wings. He fluttered them, purring as he looked over at his mate.

His optics were open and he was smiling, but there was no warmth coming from his body. Starscream sat up and opened his chamber. His spark was black.

His agony was heard across Cybertron. Optimus held Starscream while he clawed the Prime, wanting to curl up against his mate, his bonded, while Ratchet helped the warlord onto a portable berth to bury him under his statue in Kaon...

"I'll never love again," Starscream sobbed, gripping his chest. He slumped in Optimus' arms, who was also struggling to reign in his tears. One was burning a track down the side of his face.

"Do not say that, Starscream. You are still rather young."

"Megatron was my everything..." He clutched his chest. "He helped me feel..."


End file.
